“Rate” shall mean a municipal rate on property as envisaged in Section a) of the Constitution. “Rateable property

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“Specified public benefit activity” shall mean an activity listed in item 1 (welfare and humanitarian, item 2 (healthcare) and item 4 (education and development) of Part 1 of the ninth schedule to the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962.
“State trust land” shall mean land owned by the state and held in trust for persons communally inhabiting the land in terms of a traditional system of land tenure over which land tenure rights have been registered or granted or which is earmarked for disposal in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act No. 22 of 1994. PART II TARIFFS SECTION 3: OBJECTIVE Insetting its annual tariffs the council shall at all times take due cognisance of the tariffs applicable elsewhere in the economic region, and of the impact which its own tariffs may have on local economic development. SECTION 4: GENERAL PRINCIPLES a) Service tariffs imposed by the local municipality shall be viewed as user charges and shall not be viewed as taxes, and therefore the ability of the relevant consumer or user of the services to which such tariffs relate, shall not be considered as a relevant criterion (except in the case of the indigency relief measures approved by the municipality from time to time. b) The municipality shall ensure that its tariffs are uniformly and fairly applied throughout the municipal region. c) Tariffs for the four major services rendered by the municipality, namely

REVENUE BYLAWS – 1 JULY 2014 Page 13 electricity water sewerage (wastewater) refuse removal (solids waste, shall as far as possible recover the expenses associated with the rendering of each service concerned, and
– where feasible – generate a modest surplus as determined in each annual budget. Such surplus shall be applied in relief of property rates or for the future capital expansion of the service concerned, or both. d) The tariff which a particular consumer or user pays shall therefore be directly related to the standard of service received and the quantity of the particular service used or consumed. e) The municipality shall develop, approve and at least annually review an indigency support programme for the municipal area. This programme shall set out clearly the municipality’s cost recovery policy in respect of the tariffs which it levies on registered indigents, and the implications of such policy for the tariffs which it imposes on other users and consumers in the municipal region. f) Inline with the principles embodied in the Constitution and in other legislation pertaining to local government, the municipality may differentiate between different categories of users and consumers in regard to the tariffs which it levies. Such differentiation shall, however, at all times be reasonable, and shall be fully disclosed in each annual budget. g) The municipality’s tariff policy shall be transparent, and the extent to which there is cross-subsidisation between categories of consumers or users shall be evident to all consumers or users of the service in question.

REVENUE BYLAWS – 1 JULY 2014 Page 14 h) The municipality further undertakes to ensure that its tariffs shall be easily explainable and understood by all consumers and users affected by the tariff policy concerned. i) The municipality also undertakes to render its services cost effectively in order to ensure the best possible cost of service delivery. j) In the case of directly measurable services, namely electricity and water, the consumption of such services shall be properly metered by the municipality, and meters shall be read, wherever circumstances reasonably permit, on a monthly basis. The charges levied on consumers shall be proportionate to the quantity of the service which they consume. k) In addition, the municipality shall levy monthly availability charges for the services concerned, and these charges shall be fixed for each type of property as determined in accordance with its appropriate policies. Generally, consumers of water and electricity shall therefore pay two charges one, relatively minor, which is unrelated to the volume of consumption and is levied because of the availability of the service concerned and another directly related to the consumption of the service in question. l) In considering the costing of its water, electricity and sewerage services, the municipality shall take due cognisance of the high capital cost of establishing and expanding such services, and of the resultant high fixed costs, as opposed to variable costs of operating these services. In adopting what is fundamentally a two-part tariff structure, namely a fixed availability charge coupled with a charge based on consumption, the municipality believes that it is properly attending to the demands which both future expansion and variable demand cycles and other fluctuations will make on service delivery. m) The municipality’s tariffs for electricity services will be determined to ensure that those consumers who are mainly responsible for peak demand, and therefore for the

REVENUE BYLAWS – 1 JULY 2014 Page 15 incurring by the municipality of the associated demand charges from Eskom, will have to bear the costs associated with these charges. To this end the municipality shall therefore install demand meters to measure the maximum demand of such consumers during certain periods. Such consumers shall therefore pay the relevant demand charge as well as a service charge directly related to their actual consumption of electricity during the relevant metering period. SECTION 5: CALCULATION OF TARIFFS FOR MAJOR SERVICES In order to determine the tariffs which must be charged for the supply of the four major services, the municipality shall identify all the costs of operation of the undertakings concerned, including specifically the following a) Cost of bulk purchases in the case of water and electricity. b) Distribution costs. c) Distribution losses in the case of electricity and water. d) Depreciation expenses. e) Maintenance of infrastructure and other fixed assets. f) Administration and service costs, including i) service charges levied by other departments such as finance, human resources and legal services ii) reasonable general overheads, such as the costs associated with the office of the municipal manager iii) adequate contributions to the provisions for bad debts and obsolescence of stock iv) all other ordinary operating expenses associated with the service concerned including, in the case of the electricity service, the cost of providing street

REVENUE BYLAWS – 1 JULY 2014 Page 16 lighting in the municipal area (note the costs of the democratic process in the municipality
– that is, all expenses associated with the political structures of the municipality
– shall form part of the expenses to be financed from property rates and general revenues, and shall not be included in the costing of the major services of the municipality. g) The intended surplus to be generated for the financial year, such surplus to be applied i) as an appropriation to capital reserves and/or ii) generally in relief of rates and general services. h) The cost of approved indigency relief measures. SECTION 6: STRUCTURE OF TARIFFS a) The municipality shall provide the first kWh of electricity per month and the first 6 kl of water per month free of charge to consumers who have registered as indigents in terms of the municipality’s indigency relief programme. The municipality shall further consider relief in respect of the tariffs for sewerage and refuse removal for such registered indigents to the extent that the council deems such relief affordable in terms of each annual budget, but on the understanding that such relief shall not be less than a discount of 50% on the monthly amount billed for the service concerned. b) Because water is a scarce national resource, and this municipality is committed to the prudent conservation of such resources, the tariff levied for domestic consumption of water shall escalate according to the volume of water consumed. The tariff for domestic consumption shall be based on monthly consumption of up to
6 kl (for non-indigents), more than 6 kl but not more than 15 kl, more than 15 kl but not more than 20 kl, more than 20 kl but not more than 30 kl, and more than 30 kl. Tariffs for non-domestic consumption shall be based on a single charge per kl consumed, irrespective of the volume of consumption concerned.

REVENUE BYLAWS – 1 JULY 2014 Page 17 SECTION 7: ELECTRICITY a) The various categories of electricity consumers, asset out in subsection (c) below, shall be charged at the applicable tariffs, as approved by the council in each annual budget. b) Tariff adjustments shall be effective from 1 July each year or as soon as possible thereafter. c) Categories of consumption and charges shall be as follows i) With the single exception of registered indigents, all electricity consumers shall be billed for their electricity consumption at the tariff applicable to the category in which the particular consumer falls. ii) All domestic electricity consumers of the municipality who are registered as indigents with the municipality shall receive free the first kWh (fifty) of electricity consumed per month. iii) All commercial, industrial and other non-domestic properties shall additionally be billed a monthly basic charge per meter installed and, where applicable, a demand charge appropriate to their respective levels of consumption. iv) A basic (availability) charge per month shall be charged for undeveloped erven, irrespective of their permitted or intended use. SECTION 8: WATER a) The categories of water consumers asset out in subsection (c) below shall be charged at the applicable tariffs, as approved by the council in each annual budget. b) Tariff adjustments shall be effective from 1 July each year. c) Categories of consumption and charges shall be

REVENUE BYLAWS – 1 JULY 2014 Page 18 i) All domestic water consumers registered as indigents with the municipality shall receive free the first 6 (six) kl of water consumed per month. Thereafter a stepped tariff per kl as determined by the council from time to time shall be applicable on metered water consumption. ii) All other domestic consumers shall be charged for actual water consumption at a stepped tariff per kl as determined by the council from time to time. v) A basic charge per water meter, as determined by the council from time to time, shall be charged on all water consumers, except registered indigents and consumers using prepaid meters. vi) A basic (availability) charge per month shall be charged for undeveloped erven, irrespective of their permitted or intended use. SECTION 9: REFUSE REMOVAL a) The categories of refuse removal users asset out in subsection (c) below shall be charged at the applicable tariffs, as approved by the council in each annual budget. b) Tariff adjustments shall be effective from 1 July each year. c) A separate fixed monthly refuse removal charge shall apply to each of the following categories of users, based on the costs of the service concerned i) Domestic and other users (once weekly removal) ii) Business and other users (twice weekly removal) iii) Business and other (bulk consumers. iv) Domestic and other users (fortnight removal) v) Abattoir

REVENUE BYLAWS – 1 JULY 2014 Paged) Registered indigents may receive such discount on this charge as the council deems affordable when approving each annual budget, but on the understanding that such discount shall not be less than 40% of the monthly amount billed as a refuse removal charge. SECTION 10: SEWERAGE a) The categories of sewerage users asset out in subsection (c) below shall be charged per month at the applicable tariff as approved by the council in each annual budget. b) Tariff adjustments will be effective from 1 July each year. c) Categories of usage and charges shall be i) A basic (availability) charge per month shall be charged for undeveloped erven, irrespective of their permitted or intended use. ii) A fixed monthly charge based on the costs of the service shall be charged for bucket removal for domestic users. Registered indigents may receive such discount on this charge as the council deems affordable when approving each annual budget, but on the understanding that such discount shall not be less than 40% of the monthly amount billed for this service. iii) A fixed monthly charge based on the costs of the service shall be charged for domestic users. Registered indigents may receive such discount on this charge as the council deems affordable when approving each annual budget, but on the understanding that such discount shall not be less than 40% of the monthly amount billed for this service. iv) A fixed monthly charge based on the costs of the service per sewer point/toilet shall be charged to all businesses, industries and institutional users.

REVENUE BYLAWS – 1 JULY 2014 Page 20 v) An effluent fee shall further be payable by factories and other industrial users where the wastewater emanating from such users requires special purification measures by the municipality. Such fees shall be based on the toxic content of the wastewater concerned and the costs of the purification. SECTION 11: MINOR TARIFFS a) All minor tariffs shall be standardised within the municipal region. b) All minor tariffs shall be approved by the council in each annual budget, and shall, when deemed appropriate by the council, be subsidised by property rates and general revenues, particularly when the tariffs will prove uneconomical when charged to cover the cost of the service concerned, or when the cost cannot accurately be determined, or when the tariff is designed purely to regulate rather than finance the use of the particular service or amenity. c) All minor tariffs over which the municipality has full control, and which are not directly related to the cost of a particular service, shall annually be adjusted at least inline with the prevailing consumer price index, unless there are compelling reasons why such adjustment should not be effected. d) The following services shall be considered as subsidised services, and the tariffs levied shall cover 50% or as near as possible to 50% of the annual operating expenses budgeted for the service concerned i) burials and cemeteries ii) rentals for the use of municipal sports facilities. e) The following services shall be considered as community services, and no tariffs shall be levied for their use i) municipal museum and art gallery

REVENUE BYLAWS – 1 JULY 2014 Page 21 ii) disposal of garden refuse at the municipal tip site iii) municipal lending library (except for fines set out below) iv) municipal botanical garden, and all other parks (excluding caravan parks) and open spaces. f) The following services shall be considered as economic services, and the tariffs levied shall cover 100% or as near as possible to 100% of the budgeted annual operating expenses of the service concerned i) maintenance of graves and garden of remembrance (cremations) ii) housing rentals iii) rentals for the use of municipal halls and other premises (subject to the proviso set out below) iv) building plan fees v) cleaning of stands vi) electricity, water, sewerage new connection fees vii) Photostat copies and fees viii) clearance certificates. g) The following charges and tariffs shall be considered as regulatory or punitive, and shall be determined as appropriate in each annual budget i) fines for loss or overdue library books ii) advertising sign fees iii) electricity, water disconnection and reconnection fees iv) penalty and other charges imposed in terms of the approved policy on credit control and debt collection v) penalty charges for the submission of dishonoured, stale, postdated or otherwise unacceptable cheques. h)
Market-related rentals shall be levied for the lease of municipal properties.

REVENUE BYLAWS – 1 JULY 2014 Page 22 i) In the case of rentals for the use of municipal halls and premises, if the municipal manager is satisfied that the halls or premises are required for nonprofit making purposes and for the provision of a service to the community, the municipal manager may waive 50% of the applicable rental. j) The municipal manager shall determine whether an indemnity or guarantee must in each instance be lodged for the rental of municipal halls, premises and sports fields, and in so determining shall be guided by the likelihood of the municipality
’s sustaining damages as a result of the use of the facilities concerned. PART III RATES SECTION 12: OBJECTIVE a) In developing and adopting this rates policy, the council has sought to give effect to the sentiments expressed in the preamble of the Property Rates Act, 2004 (No 6 of
2004) namely that i) the Constitution enjoins local government to be developmental in nature, in addressing the service delivery priorities of our country and promoting the economic and financial viability of our municipalities ii) there is a need to provide local government with access to a sufficient and buoyant source of revenue necessary to fulfill its developmental responsibilities iii) revenues derived from property rates represent a critical source of income for municipalities to achieve their constitutional objectives, especially in areas neglected in the past because of racially discriminatory legislation and practices and iv) it is essential that municipalities exercise their power to impose rates within a statutory framework which enhances certainty, uniformity and simplicity across the nation, and which takes account of historical imbalances and the burden of rates on the poor.

REVENUE BYLAWS – 1 JULY 2014 Page 23 b) In applying its rates policy, the council shall adhere to all the requirements of the Property Rates Act, 2004 (No 6 of 2004) including any regulations promulgated in terms of that Act.
13 CLEARANCE CERTIFICATES (SECTION 118(1) AND 118(3) i) On the sale of any property in the municipal jurisdiction, the municipality will withhold the transfer until all rates, services and consumption charges are paid by withholding a rates clearance certificate as contemplated in section 118(1) of the Systems Act. ii) The Municipality shall, wherever possible, issue a clearance certificate within ten working days of such request once all outstanding debts and administration fees have been paid in full. iii) The above provisions do not apply in the case of transfers from National Government, Provincial Government or another municipality of residential property where the provisions of Section 118(4) of the Municipal Systems Act are applicable. iv) Whereas section 118(1) effectively places an embargo on the transfer of immovable property until die council has obtained payment of all amounts owed to it fora period of two years prior the application for rates clearance, section
118(3) determines that an amount due for municipal service fees, surcharges on fees, property rates and other municipal taxes, levies and duties is a charge upon the property in connection with which the amount is owing and enjoys preference over a mortgage bond registered against the property. v) The Municipality shall collect two (2) months service charges in advance to cover the period for the transfer to be registered at the Deeds Office.

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